It wouldn’t be a Gator By the Bay festival without a squeezebox or two. AL GARDNER

Barring a dramatic change in the topography of the United States, Louisiana isn’t likely to neighbor or annex San Diego any time soon. But when it comes to this weekend’s 11th annual Gator by the Bay — a rousing celebration of Louisiana’s music, food and culture at Spanish Landing Park — the Gulf Coast state is happy to give its official endorsement and provide some underwriting.

“We are supporting Gator, and we’re very happy that it has been so successful for the number of years it has,” said Misty L.S. Velasquez, the director of program and services at the Louisiana Office of Tourism in Baton Rouge.

Her sentiments are shared by Gerald Breaux, the executive director of the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Bureau. Lafayette hosts two of Louisiana’s biggest annual music events, the 26-year-old Festival International de Louisiane (which in April drew about 400,000 people) and the 35-year-old Festivals Acadiens et Créoles (which attracted 150,000 people last October).

Gator drew nearly 15,000 people in 2012. It is modeled, in part, after the festivals in Lafayette and after the sadly defunct San Diego Street Scene (which in the 1990s often featured top Cajun and zydeco bands from Louisiana).

This weekend’s three-day edition of Gator begins Friday. Saturday and Sunday are free for kids 17 and under who attend with a paying adult. The festival will showcase nearly 90 performances on six stages, with a lineup including such leading Louisiana-based artists as Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band, Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys and Bonsoir, Catin. Also on the bill are roots-rock mainstay Commander Cody and such area favorites as Theo & The Zydeco Patrol, Eve Selis, the Euphoria Brass Band, Sue Palmer & Her Motel Orchestra and the Bill Magee Blues Band.

They’ll be joined by about 20 vendors of Louisiana food and 80 or so crafts and arts vendors. No matter their role, on stage or off, the participants at Gator by the Bay strive to embody the Louisiana credo: Laissez les bons temps rouler! (“Let the good times roll!”)

“There are a lot of festivals that are in it only for the money, but the organizers of Gator by the Bay are in it for the sake of presenting a true Louisiana experience,” veteran Lafayette tourism honcho Breaux observed.

He should know.

Last year, after the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Bureau agreed to provide some funding for Gator, Breaux flew here to attend the festival’s 10th anniversary edition. He and another Lafayette tourism official set up a table at Spanish Landing Park with brochures promoting visits to the state. Breaux is returning this week with a colleague from Lafayette and tourism representatives from Lake Charles and Jefferson Davis Parish. They will register attendees for a drawing for free Louisiana vacations.